{"id":18048,"date":"2025-10-23T23:13:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T23:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/18048\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T23:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T23:13:15","slug":"rowdies-legend-leo-fernandes-announces-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/18048\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowdies legend Leo Fernandes announces retirement\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rowdies <\/p>\n

TAMPA – Every weekend, each summer, for the last nine years, Leo Fernandes has worn the green and gold of the Rowdies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s tough, right? I think I feel all the emotions,” Fernandes said.<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

Now, after a 13-year professional soccer career, Fernandes is ready to hang up his cleats for good and announced his retirement following the end of the 2025 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think it’s the right timing,” Fernandes said<\/p>\n

“It’s been an unbelievable ride, especially here in Tampa Bay.”<\/p>\n

Over his nine seasons with the Rowdies, Fernandes became “Mr. Rowdie” by netting 46 goals and a modern-era club record 37 assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He brought trophies to Tampa Bay by helping lead the Rowdies to a pair of Eastern Conference titles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“You need a goal, you need an assist, you need a bit of quality, you need someone to work hard, he’s the man you look to,” said midfielder Lewis Hilton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Honestly, he’s been an absolute legend for this club, and it’s been an honor to be his teammate.,” said Hilton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Fernandes’ time playing for the Rowdies may be up, his legend will continue to hang over the pitch for years to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m just a kid from Stony Brook. Being drafted to the pros and being able to play for 13 years is a blessing,” Fernandes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

Fernandes may be stepping away from a playing career but won’t be stepping away from the Rowdies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has already accepted a position at the club for next year that has yet to be announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, how much longer he has left in his playing career is still up to him, the Rowdies and a little bit of luck.<\/p>\n

The Rowdies play Detroit on Saturday night and need a win by two or more goals, along with an Indy Eleven tie or loss to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: FOX 13’s Sean Barie interviewed Leo Fernandes and Lewis Hilton with the Tampa Bay Rowdies for this story.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rowdies<\/a>Sports<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA – Every weekend, each summer, for the last nine years, Leo Fernandes has worn the green and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[14998,110,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-18048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-rowdies","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-st-pete","11":"tag-st-pete-headlines","12":"tag-st-pete-news","13":"tag-st-petersburg","14":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","15":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}